CB Governor to appear before Treasury bond Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday

Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, has been directed to appear on Tuesday before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) appointed to look into irregularities in respect to the issuance of Treasury bonds, including the controversial Central Bank bond issue of February 2015.

Secretary to the Commission, Sumathipala Udugamasuriya, has written to Dr. Coomaraswamy asking him to appear before the COI at 10.30 a.m. at its office located at Adhikarana Mawatha at Hultsdorf, Colombo 12.

Senior Additional Solicitor General Dappula de Livera, PC, who heads the nine-member team from the Attorney General’s Department appointed to assist the commission along with Additional Solicitor General Yasantha Kodagoda PC, will present evidence during Tuesday’s sittings, informed sources said.

The initial inquires by the COI will be about the role the CB plays in the issue of government bonds as well as the criteria pertaining to the selection of primary dealers and other related matters, they said.

It will be the first meeting of the three-member commission appointed by President Maithripala Sirisena in January to investigate and inquire into and report on the issuance of Treasury Bonds during the period from 1 February 2015 to 31 March 2016. Its members are Supreme Court Justices K.T. Chitrasiri and Prasanna Sujeewa Jayawardana and retired Deputy Auditor General Kandasamy Veluppillai.

Meanwhile, the COI has given time until 28 February for members of the public to send in written representations, complaints, statements or information relating to any irregularity in the issuance of Treasury bonds between 1 February 2015 and 31 March 2016.

The COI has notified that “every person who gives evidence before the Commission shall be entitled to the privileges of witnesses and special immunity as provided for in the Commission of Inquiry Act.

Among the matters the COI will inquire will be the management, administration and conduct of affairs of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) in respect to the bond issuance during this period and whether there has been any malpractice, irregularity or non-compliance with or disregard of the proper procedures applicable to this.

The commission has been given three months to hand over its report.

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